Stock Market & Financial Investment News

Comcast, Liberty Property to develop $1.2B mixed-use towerComcast Corporation (CMCSA, CMCSK) and Liberty Property Trust (LRY) announced they will jointly develop the “Comcast Innovation and Technology Center” in Center City Philadelphia. The project will be owned by a joint venture, 80% owned by Comcast and 20% by Liberty Property Trust, and managed by Liberty. The project includes an approximately $1.2B private investment of which approximately $900M will be funded by the joint venture and approximately $300M will be tenant funded interior improvements. The proposed 59-story, 1,121-foot tower will neighbor Comcast Center, Comcast’s global headquarters, and will be home to the operations of local broadcast television stations NBC 10/WCAU and Telemundo 62/WWSI. In addition to office space, the Comcast Innovation and Technology Center will house a Four Seasons hotel, featuring more than 200 rooms. Four Seasons will continue to manage its existing hotel at 1 Logan Square and assist the owner with the transition to a new brand prior to the expected opening of the new hotel in 2017.

ADT rises after Citi downplays 'smart home' concernsShares of ADT (ADT) are heading higher in afternoon trading following an upgrade from Citi, within which the research firm said traditional home security firms have plenty of traction as self-installed, self-monitored security solutions from the likes of Apple (AAPL) and Google's (GOOG) Nest are slow to be adopted by homeowners. WHAT'S NEW: Citi's Jason Bazinet issued a research note on the home security sector, upgrading ADT to Buy from Neutral while slightly lowering his price target to $39 from $40. Bazinet notes that the sector is expanding into "smart home" technology powered by companies like Apple and Google's Nest. Despite this, the analyst contends that consumer data shows continued preference for the traditional approach in the form of professionally installed and professionally monitored services from ADT, Monitronics, Vivint, AT&T (T) and Comcast (CMCSA, CMCSK). WHAT'S NOTABLE: Though tech firms and venture capitalists seem drawn towards the concept of self-installed, self-monitored "smart homes," consumers appear to be sticking with the professionals, says Citi. Security systems using Apple HomeKit and Google's Nest products are seeing "limited" adoption, and firms like ADT -- equipped with call centers and installation specialists -- appear ready to "hold their own," with recent weakness in ADT shares called an "opportunity" by Bazinet. The analyst conceded that professional security providers will see their market share drop to 15% from a current 20%, but Bazinet set a 2035 date for that shift, leaving plenty of near-term opportunity for traditional players. PRICE ACTION: After a 25% drop since mid-April, shares of ADT are up about 1.4% to trade near $32 this afternoon.

Earnings Watch: TV networks report as streaming services gain groundCBS (CBS), Time Warner (TWX), Viacom (VIA, VIAB), and 21st Century Fox (FOX, FOXA) are among TV network companies expected to report quarterly results over the next several weeks, with Comcast (CMCSA, CMCSK) already having reported before the open on July 23. EXPECTATIONS: Time Warner is expected to report EPS of $1.03 on revenue of $6.9B, CBS is expected to report EPS of 73c on revenue of $3.22B, Viacom is expected to report EPS of $1.47 on revenue of $3.22B, and 21st Century Fox is expected to report EPS of 37c on revenue of $6.48B. LAST QUARTER: CBS, Time Warner, and Fox all reported stronger than expected Q1 results, while Viacom reported higher than expected Q2 EPS but missed on revenue. THIS WEEK'S EARNINGS: On the morning of July 23, Comcast reported Q2 EPS of 84c in line with estimates, and revenue of $18.7B versus expectations for $18.14B. Cable customer relationships for the quarter were up 31,000 to 27.3M, driven by increases in double and triple product relationships. During a subsequent conference call, the company noted that TV viewership continues to be under pressure. NEWS: At Re/code's Code Conference on May 27, CBS CEO Leslie Moonves remarked that his network will "probably" sign up for Apple's (AAPL) rumored TV service, and on June 3, CBS announced that its Showtime network will be offered over the internet as a stand-alone streaming service launching in early July for a monthly price of $10.99, with Apple as its first partner. On July 1, Variety quoted sources as saying Viacom was attempting to entice advertisers by offering to construct social-media and digital extensions of traditional TV ad campaigns as the company seeks to move away from Nielsen-based advertising sales. On July 8, the Wall Street Journal reported that Viacom's Paramount Pictures reached an agreement with AMC (AMC) to accelerate the home release of movies, noting that the company hoped to implement the quickened schedule for all new releases beginning later in the year. On July 17, Re/code reported that Viacom held talks to acquire e-commerce and media company Thrillist Media, according to sources. On June 17, 21st Century Fox named James Murdoch as CEO, with founder and former chairman and CEO Rupert Murdoch appointed executive co-chairman alongside Lachlan Murdoch. The Telegraph reported on June 20 that Fox rejected offers for its stake in Sky (SKYAY) from Vodafone (VOD) and Vivendi (VIVHY), potentially signalling an interest in outright purchasing the rest of Sky, according to the report. More recently, the European Commission announced on July 23 that it delivered a statement of objections to Sky and various film studios owned by Comcast, Viacom, Fox, Time Warner, Disney (DIS), and Sony (SNE), discussing anti-trust concerns due to limitations on country-by-country availability of pay-TV services. STREET RESEARCH: On May 12, Pacific Crest said it believes Apple will launch its TV service before the end of the year, saying the move should benefit TV networks as well as Apple itself. On June 24, Brean Capital said Facebook's (FB) agreement with Time Warner to host premier episodes of certain upcoming shows was "a trend worth following," and possibly indicative of Facebook hosting additional TV content in the future. Also on June 24, FBR Capital contended that Netflix (NFLX) was on pace to have a larger 24-hour audience than all traditional broadcast networks, where ratings are seeing declines on average, according to the research firm. Those comments were followed by a July 10 note on Netflix from Morgan Stanley, saying the subscription streaming service was seeing higher time spent per day than any single broadcast network. Moving away from the Netflix factor, on July 10, JPMorgan said CBS shares looked "very attractive" following a recent selloff, though the company saw a downgrade on July 20 from Pivotal, which cited higher costs of capital among other factors. Finally, Citi upgraded Viacom on July 16 to Neutral, citing recent underperformance in the company's shares heading into earnings season.

On The Fly: Top stock stories for ThursdayStocks began the session mixed on the heels of weak earnings reports from both Caterpillar (CAT) and 3M (MMM). The Nasdaq managed to spend most of the day in positive territory but joined the other averages in negative territory by mid-afternoon. Selling picked up momentum towards late afternoon, and by day’s end each of the averages were lower by more than 0.4%, with the Dow losing nearly 0.7%. ECONOMIC EVENTS: In the U.S., initial jobless claims fell to 255,000 in the week ended July 18, below the 278,000 first-time claims that were expected. The Leading Economic Indicators advanced 0.6% in June, exceeding expectations for a 0.3% increase. In Asia, the Shanghai Composite index advanced for a sixth straight session, adding another 2.4%. In Europe, the Greek Parliament voted to accept creditor terms for a new bailout, though a decision on when to reopen Greek financial markets was deferred to next week. COMPANY NEWS: Shares of General Motors (GM) finished the session up 3.96% to $31.50 after reporting earnings per share above analyst expectations. Other notable names rising following earnings reports include SanDisk (SNDK), Under Armour (UA), Southwest (LUV)... Caterpillar, meanwhile, dropped $2.86, or 3.59%, to $76.90 after cutting its yearly guidance during this morning's earnings report, with the company noting a "relatively stagnant" global economy. Also lower following earnings were Comcast (CMCSA, CMCSK), Bristol-Myers Squibb (BMY), Dunkin Brands (DNKN), and Boston Scientific (BSX). MAJOR MOVERS: Among the notable gainers was Cigna (CI), which rose $3.29, or 2.18%, to $154.36 after the Wall Street Journal reported last night that Anthem (ANTM) is nearing a deal to acquire the company for roughly $187, representing a total transaction value of over $48B. Adding to that report, CNBC's David Faber said on Thursday morning that Anthem will announce an agreement Friday to purchase Cigna for $188 per share, at a 45% equity, 55% cash split. Also higher were shares of numerous IT security companies, with FireEye (FEYE) advancing 4.53% and Palo Alto Networks (PANW) adding 2.33% after earnings reports from security firms Fortinet (FTNT) and F5 Networks (FFIV) beat on both top and bottom lines. Fortinet and F5, meanwhile, finished Thursday's session up 10.71% and 7.75% to $46.83 and $127.68, respectively. Among the noteworthy losers following earnings was McDonald's (MCD), which edged down 0.52% to $97.10 after noting that Q2 global comparable sales fell 0.7% for the quarter, including a 2% decline in U.S. same-store sales. Also lower was Hertz (HTZ), which declined 8.53% to $16.45 following a downgrade to Underweight at Morgan Stanley, with the research firm citing increased competition from Uber and similar mobility services. INDEXES: The Dow fell 119.12, or 0.67%, to 17,731.92, the Nasdaq lost 25.36, or 0.49%, to 5,146.41, and the S&P 500 declined 12.00, or 0.57%, to 2,102.15.

Comcast reports Cable customer relationships increased by 31,000Revenue for Cable Communications increased 6.3% to $11.7B in Q2 compared to $11.0B in the second quarter of 2014, driven by increases of 10.0% in high-speed Internet, 20.4% in business services and 3.7% in video. Customer Relationships increased by 31,000 to 27.3M in Q2, a 56,000 improvement compared to the second quarter of 2014 and driven by increases in double and triple product relationships. At the end of Q2, double and triple product customers increased to 69% of total customer relationships compared to 68% in the second quarter of 2014. Video net losses improved 52% year-over-year to 69,000 and were the best result for a second quarter in nine years, while High-Speed Internet customers grew by 180,000 and Voice net additions were 49,000.

EU sends Statement of Objections to Sky, U.S. film studiosThe European Commission has sent a Statement of Objections to Sky UK (SKYAY) and six major U.S. film studios: Disney (DIS), NBCUniversal (CMCSA), Paramount Pictures (VIA), Sony (SNE), Twentieth Century Fox (FOXA) and Warner Bros (TWX). The Commission takes the preliminary view that each of the six studios and Sky UK have bilaterally agreed to put in place contractual restrictions that prevent Sky UK from allowing EU consumers located elsewhere to access, via satellite or online, pay-TV services available in the UK and Ireland. Without these restrictions, Sky UK would be free to decide on commercial grounds whether to sell its pay-TV services to such consumers requesting access to its services, taking into account the regulatory framework including, as regards online pay-TV services, the relevant national copyright laws. If the Commission's preliminary position were to be confirmed, each of the companies would have breached EU competition rules prohibiting anti-competitive agreements. The sending of a Statement of Objections does not prejudge the outcome of the investigation. These antitrust investigations focus on contractual restrictions on passive sales outside the licensed territory in agreements between studios and broadcasters.

Disney's 'Ant-Man' leads U.S. weekend box office with $58MFor the weekend of July 19, Disney's (DIS) "Ant-Man" topped domestic box office charts at $58M. Comcast (CMCSA, CMCSK) subsidiary Universal's "Minions" landed in second place with $50.2M, while Universal's "Trainwreck" came in third with $30.2M. Disney's "Inside Out" and Universal's "Jurassic World" took fourth and fifth place at $11.7M and $11.4M, respectively. Data gathered by Rentrak.